Social Media for Small Business

All of these social networks are fantastic, at least on some level, at allowing for dialogue to happen. You need to keep in mind that you wouldn’t be in business if it weren’t for your customers, so it wouldn’t hurt to talk to them and have them feel like they are being heard.

That said, for the most part if you’re providing quality products and/or services, the customers will still follow you, but it’s always better to make your business more personable and transparent. Customers tend to appreciate it when they feel that they’re talking to actual people rather than an entity that’s strictly about business.

Solicit Feedback

This ties into having a conversation. Ask for your customer’s feedback. Are they satisfied? Do they have a suggestion or idea? What do they like or dislike about your products and/or services? Starting this kind of conversation can be absolutely essential in making sure that your business is doing the right thing. No one can live in a vacuum, especially when it comes to what the customer wants.

It’s a pretty basic concept. If your company is doing something that is undesired by the customer, it ends up hurting both profits and reputation, especially if customers start spreading the word about bad service. This is why feedback is important—if you know what’s wrong, you can take the steps to fix the problem.

The worst thing you can do is pretend that you already know what the customer wants. In some cases you might be right, but it’s also something that you can easily find out for sure. Don’t guess if you can be certain.

Go Above and Beyond

Say that you’re engaging in a public conversation with one of your customers, and they’re having a problem with your product or service. At some point, you end up fixing the problem but you realize that the customer might have reservations about your products. You can do something like offer them some kind of upgrade, discount, or credit towards something else to compensate for their problems. Not only does this make the customer more satisfied, it also boosts your reputation with people who happen to catch this conversation on whichever social network it’s posted on. Everyone will see how far you’re willing to go to keep everything running smoothly, which will build loyalty.

Promote Yourself

This should be a given, but social networks are also great at allowing you to promote yourself and your products. You can make posts that announce a new product/service, bring a discount or coupon code to attention, start a simple contest with enticing rewards, and so on. Promotion is, after all, a form of advertising, although perhaps less imposing. It’s also useful for informing people about what your business has to offer. If you don’t tell them, they won’t know.

Say that you’re engaging in a public conversation with one of your customers, and they’re having a problem with your product or service. At some point, you end up fixing the problem but you realize that the customer might have reservations about your products. You can do something like offer them some kind of upgrade, discount, or credit towards something else to compensate for their problems. Not only does this make the customer more satisfied, it also boosts your reputation with people who happen to catch this conversation on whichever social network it’s posted on. Everyone will see how far you’re willing to go to keep everything running smoothly, which will build loyalty.

Remember, just because you work in a “boring” industry, doesn’t mean you can’t make it fun! Social Media is all about fun, so keep at it and think outside the box. Eventually, you’ll find you have more followers than you know what to do with!

Today, many facility owners continue to successfully take full advantage of social media. In addition to increasing visibility if your facility, it can also generate a ton of revenue and establish you as a leader in the industry. If you’re reading this concerned that you aren’t as proficient with social media as you are with allocating boxes, don’t worry. Right now, social media is much more than a buzz word and there is a slew of information available on the topic. From brooks written on the topic to articles on the web dedicated to its usefulness for businesses, you will find a wealth of resources at your fingertips. As you learn to maximize the benefits of social media, you will be making a strong investment in the long term future of your facility.

Where to Start?

Chances are, you are probably familiar with social media. Whether from watching funny videos of a piano playing cat to keeping tabs on your children, odds are you have engaged in social media in one way or another. What you might not realize is that the same people watching those videos or uploading selfies are also potential customers. Thus, you need to reach out to them whenever you can. In terms of your facility, some sites are going to be more useful than others. As such, you’re going to want to devote the bulk of your social media time attention to the sites that provide the greatest benefit to your business.

Smile…You’re on Camera

Among one of the most popular sites for self-storage owners is YouTube. In addition to putting a face and personality to your facility, you’re increasing its visibility by leaps and bounds. Technology can go a long way these days which means you certainly don’t need to hire a film crew or break the bank to create useful videos. In fact, your cell phone will probably do the job just fine. Today’s smart phones come have cameras with video quality that trumps most professional video equipment used a decade ago. Your number one priority should be to represent your facility at its absolute best. Thus, make sure you’re shooting your videos when the natural lighting is good and you have the least amount of noisy distractions like street noise. Keep your videos short and to the point with a clear message.

Put a Face To It

In many ways, Facebook and Twitter can be put in the same category since they both lend themselves well to offering a ton of marketing opportunities. To really achieve success with these sites, you need to update them constantly. Keep in mind though that you want to offer relevant info with each post. You don’t want to post just to hear yourself speak as that is a sure fire way to lose people’s interest. Offer information with each post. For example, provide space saving solutions for your customers by offering storage tips. Also, be sure to always add pictures whenever possible. This will continue to increase viability of your facility in addition to attracting potential new customers.

Promote It

Keep in mind that even the most informative posts or well produced videos won’t do anything for you if no one can see it. Once you have your social media pages up and running, before to promote them everywhere you promote your business. Include these pages on all of your marketing materials to give people a chance to see them. The pulse of social media depends on interaction and you have to be seen by people to interact with them.

Remember to start small and don’t overwhelm yourself. If you stay committed to your social media goals, you will start to see results that provide a positive impact on your business.

Self Storage is a difficult industry to promote through social media. Let’s face it, Anyone up for a challenge though, will find that social media sites can be a excellent source of leads and can help put your brand out there. In this three part series, we’ll share our best strategies on how to use social to build an audience and engage with customers.

As a small business owner, you need to be active in social media. No longer is social media a headquarters for vacation photos and wedding announcements. Every second of the day, people are engaging in various forms of social media activity and you can’t afford to stay silent. Right now, you can be reaching an entirely new audience of potential customers. What’s worse, your competition might already be taking them away from you. Running a self-storage facility is a busy job and you have to run every aspect of your business. As a result, you don’t have much free time to spare. In order to effectively take advantage of everything social media has to offer your facility, you need to develop a basic marketing plan. Doing so will help you set goals aimed to increasing visibility of your facility. As a result, you can work towards achieving significant growth in your business .At first, you might find yourself utterly confused, intimidated or overwhelmed. Don’t worry, that’s normal. Your expertise in the storage melbourne business not the self-promotion business. As such, becoming a wizard with sites like Facebook, Twitter and even YouTube might seem like a terribly daunting task. Fear not, it’s easy to get started.

Start Small

I know you have spaces to fill and want to dive in head first. However, keep in mind that trying to take on too much at first can not only be overwhelming but can also end up being counter productive. If you try to take on too many sites at once, you risk not learning the specific functions of each site and how they can benefit your business. You don’t need to be an expert in social media overnight. As a result, it’s best to start small by focusing your attention on one site before you begin to tackle others. This way, you’re learning how to adapt the full potential of the site to your business. Big picture thinking, it will benefit your marketing initiatives greatly in the end.

Observe Everything

Much like when you started in business, you shadowed experienced professionals to learn the ins and outs of daily activity. Social media isn’t any different. With social media, sometimes its best to watch the business that have been using the site for a while. Look at their audience and how they engage them. Study how they communicate and try to relate that to your audience.

Stay on Task

Time is money and you don’t have much time in the bank. Though you could easily spend a lot of time time each day getting acclimated to social media, that won’t do you much good. Your best hours are still spent managing the day to day operations of your facility and you don’t want to waste all of your time with social media. Instead, create a specific amount of time you can put towards social media. Whether you want it to be daily or weekly, if you hold yourself accountable to a specific time limit with storage mandurah, you will maximize its effectiveness with your business.

Set Clear Goals and Objectives

Once you have determined how much time you’re willing to spend on social media sites, you will to establish clearly defined goals and how you aim to accomplish them. Whether its generating leads, increasing your facility’s visibility or simply just establishing yourself as an expert in the industry, you need to have a concise strategy. This way, you can develop a plan of attack to achieve your goals. Social media has many fantastic benefits to offer your business. Remember to start slow and keep your goals in mind. If you stay committed to achieving your goals, you will take full advantage of everything social media can do for your business.